Emergency Food

[Cypress]

I would like to have a shelf dedicated to emergency foods for the rare occasion the electricity goes out for three or four days. My home does not have a wood stove so I am dependent upon electricity for cooking foods.

What prepared foods would suffice for nutritious meals? I can understand a few cans of tuna fish, a few gallons of water but what can safely be stored and eaten without a fuel source?

I may not be thinking survivalist here. I want goodness with my emergency kit. :)
Perhaps there is a table top device that is safe for indoor cooking. Any ideas? I can think of a camp stove but what about carbon monoxide? If the lights go out and it's the middle of winter, I cannot properly vent my house.

[redfox]

Canned refried beans are on our shelf. And, do include some treats! Like good chocolate. I'd use our outdoor BBQ to cook on as a back-up (though we do have a wood stove). It just means being outside for a bit...

[bae]

I've BBQ'd outside when it was 15 degrees with several feet of snow on the ground. You don't *need* to cook in the house :-)

You could also keep a Kelly Kettle or Thermette handy, then you could boil up water with very little fuel out in your driveway or on the porch.

Or fire up a Coleman stove outside.

[redfox]

You are hardcore, bae!

[Gina]

There are small alcohol camp cookers that don't use much fuel. There are also some alcohol cookers you can make out of old coke or mini cat food cans. they use denatured ethanol, and are quite clean-burning.

For emergencies, I keep extra charcoal for the bbq. And of course a solar oven if it's sunny.

Emergency foods in case 'the big one' hits (Calif earthquake) are some canned soups and meats and tomatoes, and rice and beans. I also try to keep some extra cheese in the fridge too. And stored water of course.

[herbgeek]

I have a small alcohol stove that I've used on the porch in addition to the bbq. Last time the power went out, I boiled water for tea and was quite happy to wait for the power company. I have canned soups in the basement for a no-cook food. I always have lots of snacks around anyways that I could eat in an emergency.

[kib]

http://www.milesstair.com/bf-2698.html

Kerosene stoves can be safe enough to use indoors and also provide a lot of heat. If you already have gas or propane heat you might consider switching to a gas stove instead of electric; if you heat with electricity you would want backup heat as well as cooking ability and the stove above might do it for you.

For a simple one burner stove, butane is expensive but very clean.

http://www.denverdiscountmart.com/KITCHEN-AND-COOKWARE/CANISTER-STOVES/50730.html

[Tiam]

I have the same issue, along with not liking many tinned foods, but canned fruit if you can stand it. Canned chicken if you think you'll use it before it goes bad. Canned milk. I actually keep canned milk around for different things. If you are out of milk you can use it in cooking. Cocoa could go with the milk. Instant pudding. Tea. Honey. Peanut butter. Crackers. Cereal. Instant oatmeal. Granola bars. dried fruit, juice boxes, applesauce. Pretzels. Olives. Coconut. Beans. (you can make them into pulses to eat with crackers)

Now I never eat instant oatmeal, so I'd have no reason to have this on hand, but really you can eat raw oatmeal. Mixed with honey or peanut butter it's tolerable. I don't eat instant pudding either, just throwing out ideas.

[Crystal]

Well, the blizzard has taught me and mine a few things. The blizzard hit at the end of the month when many people were just about to go stock up the next day. Roads weren't plowed, mail wasn't delivered, ATMs were empty, and grocery supplies were not getting through to the markets even if you were able to get out of your driveway. When the stores finally opened, there was a shortage of eggs, bread, milk, and a number of other things. It was only a week, but this is what I noticed. Plan for a worst-case scenario, such as food, cash, supplies, and perhaps power being out for a period of time -- the ice storm here several years ago was a 3 week event for most people. Plan as if you are starting from scratch and there is nothing in the pantry. Next, if I like the food on hand, since I generally shop once a month, I've probably already eaten any food I liked. For instance, I'm okay with beans and rice, but generally those aren't always my first choice when making a meal. So keeping a good stock of beans and rice on hand is a good plan for me. They will still be there when I run out of everything else and the emergency, whatever it is, hits. Next, plan for the time of year. Since it is chilly here, I wanted hot things -- coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and some snack food like popcorn and chips. Even friends who virtually never eat junk food wanted junk food during this storm. Perhaps it was the uncertainty of when we could all leave our houses again. Chocolate was a favorite moan and "wish we had that". Although in my case, since I like chocolate, it's iffy whether it would still be there when the emergency hit. Okay, I just noticed you are cooking with electric and want to be prepared for a power outage as well. Peanut butter? Crackers? I like Tiam's list. And the idea about the BBQ is a good one. I saw my neighbor BBQing in her backyard one of these bitter-cold nights, and I don't think her power was out. Anyway, my best advice? Plan to eat things you aren't that fond of since you will have probably already eaten some of the rest. <said with tongue somewhat in cheek> >8) And I ran out of milk for my coffee. Not the end of the world, but not happy-making either.

[mnmlz]

Even friends who virtually never eat junk food wanted junk food during this storm.

This was the case for me too.....I keep a pretty good supply of everything we normally use as well as foods for when the power goes out, but we don't normally keep junk food around. When the storm was coming and everyone ran out to the store I did not need to go but I went to the store and bought a bunch of junk food and I am not sorry. We did and are really enjoying it ;-)......and we still have some left which is good since we still have most of the 12 inches of snow from last weeks storm and we are supposed to get another 8 inches tonight and tomorrow......we don't normally get this much snow here in Oklahoma.

[Gina]

As I watched the news the past couple weeks, among other things, I've wondered about the residents of Cairo and hoped they had some emergency supplies on hand. Totally unexpected things can happen.

A number of years ago it was a combination of the Indonesian tsunami and hurricane Katrina happening relatively close to each other that made me realize massive calamities really do happen, and the guys on the white horses can't always ride in immediately. ... and it wouldn't hurt at all to have some extra things in the house, including extra food, water, light, and alternate ways to cook.

[Tiam]

Another item that might work for a no cook would be canned potatoes. Aren't they already cooked? You could make potato salad! Some canned veggies like grean beans, red beans, garbanzos, corn, can be made into salads with some italian or ceasar dressing. Another thing to do is make fry bread or pizza on the barbecue. I've made grilled pizzas on the grill that were great. Getting them to rise in a cold house might be an issue....the fry bread could be cooked in a pan on the grill. I'm thinking tortillas, flour and corn, and also biscuits and toast. Those are warming foods. And eggs. And potatoes fried. Fried spam if you like it or a canned ham. With the tortillas the beans can be utilized to make burritos, tacos or tostadas. It doesn't even take a lot of fuel if you don't have bbq chips hanging about. If you can get any access to fallen limbs, breaking branches down to the right length can get enough to cook up a decent meal. I've done it. It takes longer because you are burning from scratch, but I've done it.

When I look in my cupboards I have some oil, some flour, a bit of rice and barley, some cans of chicken broth, some canned tomato soup and canned spaghetti sauce, some canned milk and pasta. Just the usual assortment of a food closet. Not much. I think I have about 3 gallons of water stored around. I'm thinking I'd squeak by for about 3 days. Not in luxury but just in survivability. I have two crank lanterns, a rechargable flashlight and a crank flashlight. Lots of blankets. but no indoor source of heat without power.